Herron Taylor is being called a hero for chasing down the man officials say intentionally set fire the toilet paper draped across one of the famed Toomer's Corner oaks early Sunday. (Source: Brandon Etheridge/WTVM)

An Auburn University student is being called a hero after her swift actions helped catch a man officials say intentionally set fire to one of the Toomer's Corner oak trees early Sunday morning.

Home
runs from Damek Tomscha and Ryan Tella led Auburn to a come-from-behind, 6-5
win over Alabama State on a chilly Wednesday night at Plainsman Park.

The Tigers (11-6) battled back
from a two-run deficit in the fourth and a one-run hole after five innings to
notch their fifth-straight win, avenging an earlier loss this season to Alabama
State (15-5).

"We've let them come into our
yard and get the lead, and they play loose when they get the lead," Auburn head
coach Sunny Golloway said. "That's why I thought Tella's home run was really
big.

"Offensively, I think we are
swinging the bat better. We are driving the ball. Our slugging percentage has
really, really gotten better, and that's been big for us. Before, it was taking
four or five singles to score a run."

Tomscha homered for the third
game in a row with his fifth round-tripper of the season, leading off a
four-run fourth for the Tigers. Tella's first homer of the year came in the
seventh inning to tie the game. Both were solo shots and marked the first time
this year for Auburn to hit two home runs in a game.

Jay Wade (2-0) remained
unblemished on the year, pitching three hitless, scoreless innings of relief to
pick up the win. Wade has yet to allow a run over 9.2 innings in six
appearances.

Alabama State took a 2-0 lead
in the fourth after the Tigers' first two errors of the night and a pair of RBI
hits from Richard Gonzalez and Emmanuel Marrero. But Tomscha's homer cut the
deficit in half, starting a four run rally that gave the Tigers the lead.

A base hit from Jordan Ebert
was followed by an RBI double from Dan Glevenyak to tie the game at 2-2, then
Blake Logan drove home Glevenyak with an RBI single to make it 3-2. Two batters
later, a run-scoring single from Damon Haecker brought home Logan to give
Auburn a 4-2 lead as the Tigers batted around but left the bases loaded.

The Hornets, though, fought
right back for three runs in the fifth, sending nine men to the plate in the
frame. Two more Auburn errors contributed to the scoring as two of the three
ASU runs were unearned. Richard Amion made it a one-run game with a one-out,
solo home run, then the Hornets took the lead when a rundown between third and
home went awry, allowing a run to score to tie the game. A two-out infield
single with a runner at third brought home another run, giving ASU the lead
back at 5-4.

But Tella's blast on the first
pitch of the seventh inning tied the score at 5-5. Connor Short then walked,
moved to second on a balk, and scored on a pinch-hit RBI single from Daniel
Robert to give Auburn the lead.

Trey-Cochran Gill pitched a
scoreless ninth to pick up his first save. Glevenyak and Haecker each had two
hits on the night to lead the Tigers.

The Tigers open Southeastern
Conference play this weekend as Texas A&M visits Plainsman Park for the
first time. Game times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m.
Sunday.

LSU football fans ready to grab autographs and take pictures with their favorite Tiger players and coaches at the school's annual Fan Day will have to wait a little while. Sports information director Michael Bonnette confirmed to WAFB-TV that the event has been moved to the spring, in conjunction with the Tigers' spring football game. |^